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It is more than a month since the Bank of England raised the base rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.75%, but most big banks are yet to pass on the rise to long-suffering savers. Chasing the best-paying accounts every six to 12 months may seem hard work, but if you have lots of cash on deposit, you probably should.

To stay on top, you need to be aware of the banks’ tricks and understand quoted rates so that you are comparing like with like. Banks quote one of two different interest rates, the gross rate and the AER, or Annual Equivalent Rate. The gross rate is the flat rate of interest that’s actually paid; the AER includes interest on the interest, which shows what you would get over a year if you put your money into the account and left it there.

If interest is paid annually the gross rate and AER should be the same, as there’s no interest compounding. When interest is paid monthly, the gross rate given is usually around 0.1% less than the AER rate. Remember, you also pay tax on any interest; 20% for basic-rate taxpayers and 40% for higher-rate payers.

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